


Of Flats and Friends

by oftirnanog



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, James POV, M/M, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-23 11:05:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oftirnanog/pseuds/oftirnanog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James and Lily visit Remus and Sirius' new flat and James picks up on the slightly-more-than-friendly nature of their relationship</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Flats and Friends

 

“Well, what do you think?” Sirius asks as James and Lily step into their new flat.

            “Do we get the grand tour?” Lily asks, leaning into James. James can smell the floral scent of her shampoo and is finding it a bit distracting.

            “Later,” Sirius says and James draws his attention more sharply towards Sirius when he notices the evasive quality in his voice. “Moony’s making food.”

            James takes a look around the flat, absorbing all the little details of his friends’ new place. Shoes are scattered by the front door, but the coats are hung meticulously in the front hall closet. Pictures hang on the walls while blankets drape across the sofa in the living room at random. It’s a strange struggle between pristine and chaotic, between Remus and Sirius. Somehow it manages to work and create a sort of harmony that James would have thought impossible.

            “So what do you think?” Remus asks, repeating Sirius’ question as he slides bruschetta, perfectly baked, onto a large plate in the kitchen. “It’s not bad, right?”

            “It’s ace,” James says, and Lily nods her agreement beside him.

            Sirius and Remus look so comfortable here, moving around each other in the kitchen as though they’ve been doing it all their lives. James furrows his brow slightly as Sirius’ hand lingers a bit too long on the small of Remus’ back when he slides past him to the fridge. Remus seems not to notice, merely continues with the food, moving on to the samosas. James shakes himself. Remus and Sirius have always been, well, close. Seeing them like this causes James to stop and wonder why he’s never noticed before just how close.

            “Who’s hungry?” Remus asks, turning with the plates in hand and a large smile on his face. There are bags under his eyes and James wonders if it was a good idea to accept their invitation so soon after the full moon. Remus doesn’t look like he’s near recovered.

            “Starving,” Lily says, moving away from James to take one of the plates from Remus and follow him into the living room.

            The coffee table reflects the same tension of Remus and Sirius as the rest of the place. Books, obviously Remus’, sit in neat stacks on the surface, while empty beer bottles scatter around it on the floor.

            Remus shakes his head, putting down the plate and picking up several of the bottles. “Sirius apparently doesn’t know how to clean up his mess,” Remus says. There is a trace of irritation in his voice, but it is almost completely overwhelmed by affection.

            Sirius grins fondly at Remus and takes the bottles from him. “I’m not quite domesticated yet,” he jokes.

            Remus shoots him a look. Warning? Is that what that is? James glances between the two of them curiously, watching the exchange and wondering how he’s never noticed these small details before. It crosses his mind that there may only be one bedroom, given the size of the flat.

            “I can’t believe you agreed to move in with him,” Lily teases, setting the plate down and taking a seat on the sofa beside James.

            “What can I say?” Sirius says. “My charms are irresistible.”

            “Hmph,” is all Remus says in response. He settles into an armchair, looking on the verge of falling asleep. Poor Remus—always so worn out after the moon wrecks it’s havoc on him.

            Sirius passes drinks around and takes a seat on the sofa on Lily’s other side. James notices his eyes flickering constantly towards Remus, full of concern, caring, and something James can’t quite put his finger on. Or maybe just something James isn’t sure he wants to put his finger on.

            “The place really is ace,” James says again, not sure what else to say.

            “Thanks, James,” Sirius says.

            “So we set a date,” Lily tells them enthusiastically and James is grateful beyond words for her existence. Perfection in hair, eyes, and smile aside, she always knows what to say, even when, maybe even especially when, James doesn’t.

            “May tenth,” she says warmly.

            “That’s going to be a party,” Sirius says, grinning wickedly.

            “You will, at least, have to behave yourself until after your speech,” Remus chides.

            Sirius just continues smiling like the devil himself as Lily goes into further details about the wedding. James lets his hand linger on the small of her back as she gesticulates wildly about something, probably to do with Petunia, and takes a long pull from his beer.

            “Well, I have to pee,” Lily says suddenly, standing up. “Where’s the loo?”

            “Down the hall on the left,” Remus replies.

            With Lily gone James feels naked. It’s never been awkward with his friends before and he can’t figure out what’s changed. Sirius’ fingers are thrumming nervously against his thighs, while Remus is simply too tired to say much.

            “You all right there, Moony?” James asks, glad for a subject to grasp.

            Remus nods, sleepily, but with a small smile playing at his lips.

            “We can always come back when you’re feeling better,” James suggests.

            “Don’t be ridiculous,” Remus replies. There is an edge to his voice. The one that says, _I’m not made of glass, so stop coddling_. His body stiffens in that way that it does when he gets defensive.

            James knows better than to push it. “I’m going to get myself another beer, anyone else want anything?”

            Sirius shakes his head and James wanders into the kitchen. He opens the fridge to grab another drink, then lingers by the entrance before going back in so as to catch snippets of his friends’ whispered conversation.

            “You’re exhausted,” Sirius says. He’s leaning forward on the sofa, his hand resting on Remus’s knee.

            “I’ll survive,” Remus says. He smiles and covers Sirius’ hand with his own, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You always worry too much.”

            Sirius huffs a little laugh. “Sorry.”

            Remus shakes his head. “I don’t really mind.”

            Sirius looks up and grins, almost shyly.

            The sound of Lily walking down the hall breaks the moment and Sirius pulls back from Remus smoothly, as though he’s done it a thousand times, which, James notes, he probably has. No one would ever guess what had just passed between them.

James takes a moment to gather himself before rejoining them. As he stands in the kitchen he wonders just how long they’ve been hiding this, while simultaneously wondering how he never noticed it before. For a moment he is furious. Not that they’re…James struggles with the thought slightly… _together_ , that he can get used to, in fact it almost makes sense, in a weird way—in the way that the odd balance of the apartment makes sense. But he’s angry that they haven’t told him. Angry that he’s had to find out like this. He wonders vaguely if Lily has noticed.

“Geez James, I thought maybe the fridge ate you,” Sirius says when he strolls back in.

“Always a possibility around you,” James jests, shoving Sirius in the shoulder as he passes him. It’s a harder shove than it needs to be.

“I’m pretty sure I was almost eaten by some leftovers the other day,” Remus adds.

They spend the next hour talking of the wedding, of their jobs, of Peter’s new girlfriend, of a thousand topics that skirt around the war. That is not what this evening is about.

Finally, when Remus begins to genuinely have trouble keeping his eyes open, Lily says, “We’d better be going. I have an early day tomorrow.” She tactfully avoids telling Remus he looks like the walking, or sitting as it were, dead. “Thanks so much for having us.” She pulls Sirius into a hug, and then Remus, who stands up somewhat shakily.

“Anytime,” Sirius says. He walks over to Remus’ side and James can see him subtly rest a hand on the small of Remus’ back to steady him.

All four of them walk to the front door together.

“Join us for dinner on Saturday?” Lily asks. “James won’t cook, I promise.”

“Oi,” James protests half-heartedly. He really can’t cook. Lily just smiles and squeezes his hand.

“Definitely,” Sirius says. Remus leans slightly against him.

“Remus,” James says with mock sternness. “Get some sleep before then. It won’t do to have you falling asleep in the pudding.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

“See you later, lads,” James says. “Get him to bed, will you? Make sure he takes care of himself.”

James locks eyes with Sirius. There is a question in Sirius’ eyes and James nods almost imperceptibly. He and Sirius have been able to communicate like this since they were eleven, entire conversations taking place without a single word being spoken, like telepathy or osmosis. This moment of understanding, of it all being laid out on the table, brings immense relief flooding over Sirius’ face. James smiles warmly at him. “I expect him in one piece on Saturday. Don’t wear him out.”

Sirius smiles back—grateful and relaxed, like an immense weight has just vanished from his shoulders. “I promise,” he says, and wraps his arm more noticeably around Remus, veritably holding him up by this point.

James turns and follows Lily down the front steps. He glances back and catches a glimpse, just before the door closes, of Remus’s head falling onto Sirius’s shoulder and Sirius’s lips finding their way into Remus’s hair, tender and gentle. James smiles to himself.

“So how long do you think that’s been going on?” Lily asks.

James chuckles. Clever, perceptive wench.


End file.
